Casting-machine for dental work.



8. M, LAUTER.

CASTJNG MACHINE FOR DENTAL WORK. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3. 1914.

Patented'lBeb. 5,191&

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 APPLICATION FILED JULY 3.19M

Patented Feb. 5, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SET 2.

44? 1 I /@WLZM.

SIGMUND M. LAUTER, OF 1315K)OKIIIFFL'N NEW YORK.

GASTING-MACHTNE FOR DENTAL WORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 5, 191.

Application filed July 3, 1914. serial No. 8%,732.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, SIGMUND M. Lauren, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casting- Machines for Dental Work, of which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains more particularly to inlay casting machines for use in dental work, and the object of the invention is to supply a more ellicient, conveniently operated and simple machine of the class referred to whereby inlays for dental work may be cast with great accuracy and facility and with the least possible exertion on the part of the operator.

The machine of my invention comprises a main body, preferably of cylindrical form, having a port in its front end and a port in its rear portion for the passage of air, a pipe leading from the rear port of said body portion to a pipe or pipes provided with a cup or cups to receive the flask or flasks, a piston rod within said cylindrical body portion having thereon a cup or other suitable piston, a spring within said cylindrical body adapted to be compressed on the inward movement of the piston rod and piston and a latch of suitable character on the front end of said cylindrical body for locking the piston and the piston rod at their inward position against the spring compressed against the rear end of the aforesaid cylindrical body. When the flask is in the cup connected with the piping leading from the rear end of the cylindrical body of the machine, and the gold to be cast is to flow into the matrix formed in said flask therefor, the.

latch on the front end of the machine is re leased from the piston rod and at such time the spring confined within the rear end of the machine acts to move the piston and piston rod forwardly and in doing so said piston operates by suction to draw air down through the flask and into the rear end of the machine and in doing so effects the accurate flow of the gold into the matrix of the flask. The outward movement of the piston and piston rod to effect the flow of the gold is automatic and caused by the spring within the cylindrical body of the machine. The inward movement of the piston rod and piston to compress the spring in the rear end of the cylindrical body is performed by hand and requires simply one pressure against the exposed head on the piston rod until the piston has compressed the spring, Whereupon the piston and piston rod are latched or locked at their inward positions by the means provided for that purpose and there upon the machine is ready for operation, but may be allowed to stand with the spring compressed ready for operative action as long as may be desired, the setting of the spring and piston in action for drawing or sucking downwardly through the flask being automatic at any time desired upon the mere release of the latching means holding the piston rod at its inward position.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top view of an inlay casting machine constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention, the piston rod being shown as latched in its inward position;

F ig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section, partly broken away, through the same, taken on the dotted line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 4: is a sectional view through a portion of the machine, taken on the dotted line le- 1, of Fig. 1 and illustrating by dotted lines the inoperative position of the pivoted latch by which at the proper time the piston rod is held at its inward position, shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detached sectional View of one of the cups with a flask therein ready to receive the gold for making a tooth;

Fig. 6 is a top view of one form of flask suitable for use on the machine, and

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through the same on the dotted line 7-? of Fig. 6.

In the drawings, 10 designates the body of the machine and this body, as may be seen, is cylindrical in form and equipped with a piston rod 11 carrying on its inner end a cup piston 12 and also with a coiled spring 13 which is between the piston 12 and the rear end of the cylindrical body 10. The piston rod 11 extends through a bearing hub 14 formed on the front head 15 by which the cylindrical body 10 may be closed and which, by preference, is secured upon the end of the body 10 by screw threads provided .on said body and engaged by threads formed on an annular flange 16 carried by said head. The piston 12 is of usual cup character and secured by a nut to a removable section 17 of the piston rod 11, said section 17 being formed with a transverse the front of the body is provided with a port through which air may pass into the body 10 during the movement of the piston 12 inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2 and out through which air may pass during the outward movement of the piston 12,

thus relieving any pressure at the front side of the piston 12 which might otherwise have to be overcome during the manual in ward movement of the piston rod and piston.

Adjacent to its rear end the cylindrical body 10 is provided with a port 21, and this port is in communication with a pipe or tube 22 which extends forwardly below the body, 10 and is connected by a coupling 23 with the lower ends of two pipes 24, 25, respectively,

I which branch laterally from the coupling 23 and then extend upwardly at opposite sides ofthe body 10. The port 21 is in open communication with the pipe 22 and pipes 24, 25 and said pipes 24, 25 are respectively provided with valves 26, 27 of usual type, whereby the passage through the pipes 24, 25 may be opened or closed at will. The pipes 24, 25

. have upon their .upper ends cups or shallow receptacles 28, 29, respectively, to receive the flasks 30, 31 containing the usual compound 32 within which a matrix 33 is formed in the usual way in this art, 'to-wit: by the melting'of. the wax as the mold for forming the matrix preparatory to the melted gold beingcaused to flow through the passageway leading to saidanatrix. The flasks 30, 31 willvary in size and outline in accordance with the workto be performed, and, as an illustration, I show a machine employing two of'these flasks, both being of the same generalshape and construction, but one considerably larger than the other. In the casting of a gold plate for use in dental work, the flasks would have to be of appropriate size and shape therefor, and hence it is to be understood that I do not limit my invention to the size or shape of the flasks 30, 31. Eachflask is provided near its lower edge with an external annular supporting flange 34, which when. the lower edge of the flask isinserted in the shallow cup or receptacle, will engage the upper edges of the latter and support the flask suitably above the inner bottom surface of the cup or receptacle, as represented in Fig. 5,. an air space thus beingleft between the bottom of the cup or receptacle and the flask sothat there may be, a. uniform downward movement of atmospheric air through the compound 32 when the machine is in use. The cups 28, 29 are in direct communication with the upper ends of the pipes 24, 25, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 5. The cups 28, 29 are very shallow and the flanges 34 are so near the lower ends of the flasks 30, 31 that only the lower annular edges of the flasks enter said cups, said edges being close to but above the bottoms of the cups and said flasks having open lower ends. In my construction of the cups and flasks only a very limited portion of the flasks is in contact with the cups and this is important in enabling the operator with the use of a blow pipe, which is customarily employed by dentists, to properly heat the flasks for carrying out the purposes of the machine.

Upon the front head 15 of the cylindrical body 10 is pivotally secured, upon a stud 35, a latch bar 36, which extends transversely of the head 15 and may be swung upwardly from the piston rod 11 or downwardly thereto, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 3, into engagement with an annular groove 37 formed in said rod and also, at the same time, in engagement with a recess 38, formed in a stud 39, which projects forwardly from the head 15. The latch bar 36 is preferably forn'ied with a concave recess 40 to pass partly around ihe reduced portion of the piston rod forl'ned by the presence of the groove 37 therein, and also with a straight recess 41 to enter the recess 38 in the stud 39. The purpose of the latch bar 36 is to latch or lock the piston rod 11 and piston 12 at their inward position, shown in Fig. 2, and it will readily be understood that when the piston rod and piston are pushed to their inward position for the purpose of compressing the spring 13, the latch bar 36 may be lowered to the position shown by full lines in Fig. 4 to pass into interlocking engagement with the said rod, at the groove 37, and with the stud 39, at the recess 38, in which position the latch bar will lock the piston rod and piston at their inward position until such time as the operator may desire the piston rod and piston to move forwardly under the pressure of the spring 13 and at that time the operator will simply turn the latch bar 36 upwardly to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4 and thus release the same from the piston rod and stud 35).

The body 10 is of considerable diameter and the piston 12 and spring coil 13 are of about the same diameter as the interior of the body 10, as shown in Fig. 2, and I regard this as of considerable value in securing a high cfliciency in the machine without undue strain on its parts and with the minimum amount of exertion on the part of the operator.

The operation of the invention or method of employing the machine hereinbefore described will largely be understood from the description already presented. The method of forming the matrices in the flasks 30, 31 need not be specifically referred to since the same is well understood in this art. When the matrices have been formed and the flasks are ready to be introduced to the cups or receptacles 29, the operator will open the valves 26, 27 and push the piston rod 11 inwardly so that the piston 12 may compress the spring 13 and he will thereupon latch the rod 11 at its inward position. The air which. was previously in rear of the piston 12, will, during the inward movement of said piston, escape through the port 21, pipe 22 and pipes 24, 25. After the piston 12 has compressed the spring 13 and the piston rod 11 has been secured by means of the latch bar 36, the operator may close the valves 26, 27 and place the flasks 30, 31 in the cups or receptacles 28, 29 and then when the gold is in readiness for filling the matrices 33, the operator will open the valves 26, 27 and unlatch the piston rod 11 so that the spring 13 may be permitted to drive the piston rod and piston 12 forwardly toward the head 15; this action of the spring 13 will cause the piston. 12 to create a suction down through the flasks and pipes 24, 25 and along the pipe 22 to the port 21, so that atmospheric air may flow to within the cylinder 10 at the rear side of the piston 12, the special object being to cause the flow of the air downwardly through the compound in the flasks so as to cause the gold to flow into the matrices 33 formed therein. The one forward movement of the piston 12 in a machine of the character shown by me is suflicient to effect the proper flow of the gold to the matrices of both flasks and this flow of the gold is caused by suction from the moving piston 12. When only one flask is to be made use of, only the valve in the pipe connected therewith is to be'opened, the valve 26 or 27, as the case may be, the other valve remaining closed. It is convenient to have both pipes 24, 25 so that two cups 28, 29 of varying size may be made use of, but the invention would be present if only one of said pipes were used.

The purpose of the opening 18 in the section 17 of the piston "rod is for convenience in detaching the body of the piston rod from the piston so that during shipment or when the machine is in a closely fitting box, the body of the piston rod may be placed along side of the cylinder 10 and not either project therefrom or be kept at its inward position maintaining the spring 13 under compression. When I desire to detach the body of the rod 11 from the section 17 I allow the said rod to move to its forward position until the opening 18 is in line withthe openings 42 in the hub 14 of the head 15 topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the and then I insert a nail or other tool downwardly through said openings 42 and opening 18 so as to hold the section 17 against rotation, and thereupon the body of the rod 11 may be readily unscrewed from the section 17 and withdrawn from the machine and placed along side of the body 10. The body 10 may be supported in any suitable way, but I provide said body with feet 43 by which the machine may be secured by scgews or other suitable means to a bench or ta e.

I illustrate the flasks 30, 31 as having cross bars at their lower end, but I do not limit my invention to this feature of the construction, since said flasks may have any supporting means at their lower ends or be without such supporting means for the compound 32; nor do I limit my invention in every instance, to the specific details hereinbefore described other than as the claim may require, nor is my invention confined in every instance to the placing of the spring on the rear side of the piston and compressing said spring on the inward movement of the piston rod, although I prefer this arrangement of the spring.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

In a casting machine of the character described, a flask, a cup-support therefor, an exhausting apparatus, a pipe conduit connected at one end with the exhausting apparatus and atits other end supporting the cup-support at a substantial distance from the exhausting apparatus, said exhausting apparatus comprising a body portion having parallel walls and affording a commodious air chamber, a piston fitting said chamber and having a piston-rod extended through one end of said body-portion, a coiled spring at one side of said piston and adapted when under tension and unrestrained to move said piston in one direction, and locking means to secure said piston and piston-rod in opposition to the force of said spring, said piston and piston-rod when manually moved toward one end of said body portion serving to place said spring under tension and said piston when released so as to move under the action of said spring serving to suck or draw air through said flask and conduit into the end of said body-portion back of said piston, the other end of said body-portion having an air escape opening.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 2nd day of July A. 1D. 1914.

SIGMU ND M. LAUTER.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR MARION, CHAS. C. GILL.

Commissioner ct Watentn,

Washington, D. (1. 

